They were ¿disproportionately¿ faith schools, he said. But Tory spokesman Michael Gove said: ¿I¿m convinced that, with more than one eye on a future Labour leadership bid, he is playing fast and loose with allegations which make the position of faith schools more exposed.

¿He knows there is hostility towards faith schools from many Labour MPs, Labour rank and file and trade unions.

¿The only conclusion we can draw is that this is about politics ¿ and faith schools are the victims.

¿There¿s no evidence that money played any part in determining admissions in any of these schools.¿

It said schools rapped for asking for voluntary contributions as a condition of entry had not used the information to allocate places.

Leading figures in the Church of England said Mr Balls¿s investigation was ¿damaging¿ to church schools.

Tom Peryer, director of education for the Diocese of London, said: ¿Some schools, it is true, were non-compliant, although none, we believe, was seeking to subvert the code.

¿Other alleged instances of noncompliance in Barnet have turned out to be without foundation and other challenges are very debatable.¿

He said some schools appeared to be on the blacklist for saying in the prospectus that parents were expected to support the school¿s ethos.

¿That seems like a reasonable expectation if someone wants to attend a church school,¿ said Mr Peryer.

The row follows attempts by Mr Balls¿s predecessor, Alan Johnson, to make faith schools set aside 25 per cent of places for pupils outside their faith.

Rabbi Abraham Pinter, principal of Yesoday Hatorah Senior Girls School in Stamford Hill, North London, warned last night of ¿forces who are trying to undermine the whole concept of faith schools, which have historically been the most successful providers of education¿.

He said the naming and shaming of faith schools breaking admissions rules was ¿probably¿ part of this.

Kevin Hoare, head of Finchley Catholic High School in Barnet, said: ¿There is an anti-faith school agenda at the moment and this may be part of it.¿

Mr Balls said there was no attack on faith schools, insisting the ¿credibility¿ of schools relied on them having fair admission systems.

But he said he had not expected to find abuses on such a scale. ¿ Some 47 per cent of teachers believe their April 24 pay strike will force their schools to close, according to a poll for the Times Educational Supplement.